Landmark project promises improved broadband for 15,000 more premises in Angus

Families, farmers and local business owners in Angus will join tens of thousands across the North East in seeing their digital lives transformed through a new landmark project.

GoFibre is beginning construction to deliver lightning fast, ultra reliable, full fibre broadband to around 100,000 homes and businesses in some of the region’s hardest to reach communities.

For the first time, rural residents in parts of seven local authorities – Angus, Dundee, Aberdeenshire, Aberdeen City, Highland, Moray and Perth & Kinross will enjoy the same world-class connectivity as Scotland’s major cities – enabling seamless remote working, effortless streaming, smarter farming and giving local enterprises the tools to compete and grow.

The build is being delivered as part of Project Gigabit, a major UK government contract to improve connectivity in underserved areas. In July, GoFibre was chosen as the supplier for around 63,000 hard-to-reach premises across the North east as part of joint efforts by the UK and Scottish governments to supercharge internet access in mostly rural areas.

The Scottish Government is playing a key role in delivering the scheme in Scotland by administering and managing the contracts.

GoFibre will be adding additional premises to the build on a commercial basis, with no public subsidy, meaning at least 100,000 premises across the North East will be added to its full fibre network. This major infrastructure investment will also unlock economic growth and create 30 local jobs directly during build, with up to 180 jobs created across the lifetime of contract, including through subcontractors.

The first areas to see network build start, this month are Letham, Stonehaven, St Cyrus, Laurencekirk, Auchenblae and Longforgan. Survey began in January with build starting in these areas in February. This will expand GoFibre’s existing network of around 15,000 premises in Montrose, Forfar and Kirriemuir, and 10,000 premises in Laurencekirk, Stonehaven and Newtonhill.

This contract, the largest in Scotland, joins another Project Gigabit contract the company is delivering in the Scottish Borders and East Lothian, with two already completed in Teesdale and North Northumberland.

Neil Conaghan, GoFibre CEO, said:

“We know how frustrating unreliable broadband can be, whether you’re trying to run a business, help your kids with homework or just stream a film without it buffering. This project is all about changing that.

“As a company with its roots firmly in Scotland, we are incredibly proud to begin construction in the North East. We’re bringing faster speeds right to people’s front doors, and we can’t wait to see the difference it makes. Best of all, we’re doing it while creating jobs and investing in the communities we serve, because this is home for us too.”

Once live, the network will enable broadband speeds of up to 1Gbps – fast enough to download a full HD movie in under a minute. Residents and businesses are encouraged to register their interest to be the first to connect when services become available.